How to make conversation with boring dinner guests

Of course you’ve toiled over that three-course meal. You’ve done everything right. The veal is succulent, the wine is the best vintage you could source and the cutlery has been buffed to perfection. You’ve accounted for everything to make sure that the dinner you are hosting will be the talking point in most social circles. Which brings us to the point – did you account for what would be the “talking point” during the party.

Taken for granted too often, dinner guests do not come with a pre-set list of conversation starters when they come over. Often it is the onus of the hosts to account for this. Typically, avoid the “did you know” conversation starter. The knowledge of something that you assume your guests do not know can implicitly and lead to one of two things (both equally undesirable) – either you might insult their intelligence if it’s something too trivial, or you might sound like a Mr Know-it-all.

The best conversation starters is to begin by revolving your questions around your guests. They may on the lines of “What do you typically do on weekends?” or “Where do you plan to go on a holiday next?”, and general questions that revolve around their hobbies or pets that they might have at home. If they are monosyllabic answers, gently prod for more detailed questions.

Don’t barrage them with a set of questions though. Allow there to be brief bouts of silence, long enough for them to bring forward a conversation topic they might have in mind. At the other end of the spectrum, if you have guest who cannot stop talking about themselves and their experiences give them an extended allowance to ramble on. If that allowance is being stretched too far, interject at a point where you’ve had a similar experience and talk about yourself.

If all else fails, irrespective of the kind of dinner guest you’ve invited you can always fall back on the traditional one-liner: “It’s getting late.”